Manual mechanical razor with stationary circular blade



Oct. 31, 1967 R. w. cARTHY 3,349,483

MANUAL MECHANICAL RAZOR WITH STATIONARY CIRCULAR BLADE Filed July 22,1965 FIG. 3

INVENTOR. RICHARD W. Mac CARTHY ATTORNEYS United States Patent 3,349,483MANUAL MECHANICAL RAZOR WITH STATIONARY CIRCULAR BLADE Richard W.MacCarthy, Mountain View, Calif. (1445 Calaveras Ave., San Jose, Calif.95126) Filed July 22, 1965, Ser. No. 473,923 7 Claims. (Cl. 30-43.6)

ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A circular blade is secured co-axially on ashank which is inserted into a hole provided therefor co-axially of ablade back-up member which is journaled for rotation in a razor body.The circular blade rides co-axially on a ring of radially inclined teethprovided on a skirt portion of the back-up member. The blade is heldagainst rotation, and is biased into conforming relation with the teethby a spring clip fitted to the body. A pair of scissorslike handles areprovided, one of which is secured to the body while the other is ingeared, driving relation with the back-up ring. A spring is mounted tobias the blade slightly in a reverse direction at the end of eachoperative stroke of the handles to cause the back-up ring to spring backslightly so as to release any whiskers which might be trapped betweenthe blade and the teeth of the backup member.

The present invention relates to razors, and pertains more particularlyto a manually operated razor having a stationary disk blade and arotary, toothed, back-up ring which urges whiskers radially inwardlytoward the slicing periphery of the blade and assists in severing them.

In the past, numerous developments have been made aimed toward theprovision of a satisfactory shaving device. Examples of suchdevelopments are disclosed in my patent application Ser. No. 245,027,filed Dec. 17, 1962, now Patent Number 3,220,108 granted Nov. 30, 1965,and application Ser. No. 355,659, filed Mar. 30, 1964 now Patent Number3,298,101 granted Jan. 17, 1967. In the latter there is disclosed arazor having a rotary, disk blade with a slicing peripheral edge, and aback-up ring with diagonally disposed teeth for cooperating with therotating blade. The present invention, while having a cutting headgenerally similar to this prior form of razor, is distinctly differentin its structure and operation.

An object of the present invention is to provide an improved, manuallyoperated, circular blade razor with a stationary blade and a rotativelydriven, toothed backup ring.

Another object of the invention is to provide a manually actuated razorhaving a readily removable, stationary, circular blade with a slicing,preferably finely serrated, peripheral edge, and a rotary, toothedback-up ring mounted in resilient, honing contact with a marginalsurface portion of the blade, the back-up ring having sharpened,shear-like cutting teeth disposed at a forward rake angle relative tothe direction of rotation of the back-up ring.

Another object of the invention is to provide a safety razor having astationary, circular blade, and a toothed back-up ring, a pair ofscissors like handles being mounted to provide successive rotativeactuations of the backup ring, means being provided to produce a slightcounterrotative actuation of the back-up ring upon the completion ofeach actuation of the back-up ring by the handles.

The foregoing objects and advantages of the invention will be apparentfrom the following description and the accompanying drawings, wherein:

FIG. 1 is a side elevational view of a razor embodying the invention.

FIG. 2 is a top plan view of the razor shown in FIG. 1.

3,349,483 Patented Oct. 31, 1967 FIG. 3 is a sectional view of the razortaken along line 3-3 of FIG. 2.

FIG. 4 is an enlarged, fragmentary, perspective view showing portions ofthe circular blade and back-up ring.

FIG. 5 is an exploded, perspective view showing the component parts ofthe razor shown in FIGS. 1-4.

Brief description Briefly, the illustrative form of the presentinvention comprises a manually operated razor A having a body 10, astationary, circular blade 11, and a rotary, toothed, back-up member 12.The latter is journaled in a hole provided therefor in the body 10, andis rotated intermittently by a pair of scissors-like handles 13 and 14,the former of which is fixed to the body while the latter is movable.

The blade 11 comprises a shank portion 15, universal pivotal mountingsupport which is provided by a resilient, button-like portion 17, and ashallow, frusto-conical blade cutting portion 18. The blade shank 15 isinserted in a hole provided therefor axially of the back-up member 12and is anchored against rotative movement, and simultaneously biasedresiliently toward the rotatable back-up member 12, by a folded leafspring 19, which fits into a groove 20 provided therefor in anintermediate body plate 21.

An annular row of teeth 22 are provided on the lower edge of a skirtportion 23 of the back up member, and these teeth are biased by thespring 19 into light, resilient, honing contact with the peripheralupper surface of the blade cutting portion 18.

Pinion teeth 24 are formed on a shaft portion 25 of the blade back upmember 12, and mesh with a gear segment 27 on the inner end of themovable handle 14. The teeth of the gear segment 27 are interrupted at27a to release the shaft portion 25 at the terminal portion of eachoperative stroke of the movable handle 14, at which point a coil spring28, which is placed under slight torsion during each operative stroke ofthe handle, causes the back-up member 12 to move slightly in acounterrotative direction to free any whiskers which might be trappedbetween the blade and the teeth of the back-up member. The use of thecoil spring and the interruption of the gear segment are optionalhowever, since the razor shaves very satisfactorily without thisfeature.

Detailed description Referring to the drawings in greater detail, thebody 10 of the illustrative razor A comprises the main body portion 29,the intermediate plate 21 and a cap plate 30. The body portions may beof any .suitable, but a hard, impact resisting molded plastic materialsuch as, for example, Delrin. The main body portion 29 is formed with arecess 31 therein to receive a rectangular portion 32 on the inner endof the fixed handle 13, and the gear segment 27 on the inner end of themovable handle 14. The handles 13 and 14 are generally similar to thoseof a pair of ordinary scissors, and serve a general similar purpose.

A groove 33 is provided in the bottom of the recess 31 to receive ashaft retaining pin 34 having an upturned end portion 35 which fits intoan anchor hole provided therefor in the rectangular handle portion 32.The inner end portion of the pin 34 chordally intersects a shaft opening37 provided in the main body portion 29, and the shaft portion 25 of therotary blade back up member 12 is journ'aled in this opening. An annulargroove 38 is provided substantially medially of the length of the backupmember shaft portion 25, and receives therein the portion of the shaftretaining pin 34 which chordally intermember 12 against axialdisplacement.

The upper portion of the back up member shaft portion 25 above theannular groove 38 therein is toothed to form a pinion, and the pinionteeth 22 thereof mesh with those of the gear segment 27 on the inner endof the movable handle 14. The teeth of the gear segment are interruptedat 27a and the interrupted portion registers with the teeth 24 of theshaft portion at the end of each operative stroke of the movable handle14. Thus, the back up member 12 is released at this point from drivenengagement with the movable handle 14 and is allowed to spring backslightly under the biasing effect of the fiat, spiral spring 28.

The spring 28 is seated in a circular recess 39 provided in the lowerend of the main body portion 29 co-axially with the shaft opening 37therein. A metal rim 40 lines the periphery of this recess 39, and theouter convolution of the spring 28 which is normally of larger diameterthan this recess, is compressed radially for insertion into the recessand thus bears resiliently against the rim 40. A downturned end portion28a on the inner end of the spiral spring 28 fits into an anchor holeprovided therefor in a head portion 41 of the blade back-up member 12 toanchor the latter to the spring. The spring 28 is thus placed undertorsion during each operation of the gear segment 27 by the movablehandle 14, but this torsion remains slight due to slippage of the outerconvolution of the spring 28 within the rim 40. Then, toward the end ofeach operative movement of the handle 14, when the interruption 27a ofthe gear segment 27 registers with the toothed shaft portion 25 of theback-up member the spring 28 causes a slight counter-rotation of theblade back-up member 12. to release any whiskers which may be trappedbetween the cutting edge of the blade and the teeth of the blade back-upmember.

The cylindrical skirt portion 23 of the blade back-up member 12 may beof metal, and is secured, as by epoxy adhesive in an annular rabbetprovided therefor in the head portion 41 of the back-up member. Theteeth 22 of the illustrative back-up member 12 consists of the smalldiameter convolutions of a coil 42, preferably of good quality toolsteel, which is formed into an annulus, and is secured, as by epoxyadhesive, co-axially onto the lower end of the cylindrical skirt portion23. The coil 42 preferably has approximately 20 convolutions to theinch, but neither this measurement nor the size of the serrations in theblade cutting edge are critical.

Before being formed into its annulus, the coil 42 forming the teeth 22preferably is flattened slightly trans versely of the axis of itsindividual convolutions so that these convolutions are raked forwardslightly during an operative rotation of the blade back-up member 12.Faces 43 are ground on all of the convolutions of the annular coil 42,these faces being ground to define a common, conical surface of the sameslope as the upper face of the conical blade cutting portion 18.

The annular coil 42 is of a diameter to seat the peripheral, serrated,slicing edge 44 of the blade cutting portion 18 on the conical surfacedefined by the ground coil faces 42, and to extend radially slightlytherebeyond.

The transverse groove 20 in the upper side of the intermediate bodyplate 21 is centered on the axis of the blade shank when the latter isinserted in the axial hole provided therefor in the back-up member 12 asshown in FIG. 3. The groove is of a size to receive endwise therein thereversely bent, leaf spring, blade-locking clip 19. The cap plate coversthe groove 20 and has a rectangular notch 45 therein to receive a boss55 on the upper leg of the blade locking clip 19 when the latter isfully inserted to blade locking and biasing condition.

The intermediate body plate 21 and cap plate 30 each have three holestherein, and when the parts of the razor A are assembled as shown inFIG. 3 the holes in both plates are aligned in similar, co-axial pairs.One aligned pair of these holes is co-axial with the shaft opening 37 inthe main body portion 29 to receive therein the upper end of the bladeshank 15. A second pair thereof receives a body assembly and handlemounting screw 47, while the third pair of these holes receives a secondbody assembly screw 48. The screw 47 comprises a head 49, an unthreadedupper shank portion 50 which fits into a bushing 51 in a hole providedtherefor axially of the gear segment 27 of the movable handle 14, and alower, threaded shank portion 52 of reduced diameter, which fits throughan unthreaded hole provided therefor in the rectangular portion 32 ofthe fixed handle 13 and is screwed into a threaded hole providedtherefor in the main body portion 29. The shouldered offset between theupper and lower shank portions 50 and 52 of the screw 47 bears on therectangular portion 32 of the fixed handle 13 to hold it firmly in therecess 31.

The blade shank 15 is of metal rod, such as steel, of a diameter to fitfreely into the axial hole provided therefor in the back up member 12.It is also of a length to extend slightly above the cap plate 30 whenthe blade is inserted for use as shown in FIGS. l-3. Two diametricallyopposite flat faces 53 and 54 are formed on the blade shank 15 near itsupper end as shown in FIGS. 3 and 5, and these flats are inclinedinwardly at equal angles to the shank axis toward the lower end of theblade shank.

The blade button portion 17 is preferably molded of suitable material,such as a resilient, heat resistant plastic, and has a hub portion 17awhich is mounted on the lower end of the blade shank 15. A thin annularweb portion 17b connects the hub portion 17a to an integral annularportion 17c, which provides co-axial mounting support for the conicalcutting blade portion 18, and which may be of a thickness to extendsubstantially to the plane defined by the peripheral slicing edge 44 ofthe cutting blade portion 18.

The truncated, shallow, conical cutting blade portion 18 is securedco-axially onto the thicker annular portion of the blade button 17, andthe resiliency of the annular web portion 1711 allows sufficient freedomfor wobble movement of the cutting blade portion 18 to permit the latterto conform to the conical surface defined by the faces 43 on the teeth22 of the back up member 12 when the blade is biased upwardly by thespring clip 19.

The periphery of the cutting blade portion 18 has a keen slicing edge44, and preferably is serrated on its under or concave side as shown inFIG. 4 with small serrations of the order of sixty to the inch. Theseserrations exert a shearing action in co-operation with the forwardlyraked leading edges of the ring of teeth 22 of the rotating back upmember 12, so that the razor A will still shave effectively even thoughthe slicing per1pheral edge 44 of the blade cutting portion 18 has lostsome of its initial keenness.

The blade retaining and biasing clip 19 comprises a i h of leaf springmaterial folded reversely substantla ly medially of its length and witha rectangular, transversely corrugated, presser boss 55 mounted on thefree end of its upper leg. A pair of similar key hole slots 57 and 58are provided In superposed relation, one in each of the legs of thespring clip 19, the round end portions of the key hole slots being of asize to receive the blade shank 15 freely therein, while the narrowportions are of a width slightly less than the diameter of the bladeshank to receive the portion thereof between lower portions of the twoinclined flats 53 and 54 thereon and thereby retain the blade againstrotative movement.

A cylindrical stretcher ring 59 is fitted with a press fit into anannular rabbet 60 provided therefor around the lower end of the mainbody portion 29. The stretcher ring 59 is of a length to extend tosubstantially the same plane as that defined by the lower end of theback up member 12.

Operation Operation of the razor A is as follows: Assuming that theblade 11 is removed from the razor, to assemble the two the spring clip19 is inserted in the groove 20 in the intermediate body plate 21, andbeneath the cap plate 30, to a position where the round end portions ofthe key hole slots 57 and 58 are aligned with the holes for the bladeshank 15 provided in the intermediate body plate 21 and the cap plate30.

The blade shank 15 is then inserted upwardly through the axial holeprovided therefor-in the back up member 12 and is pushed upwardly, as bya finger of the user pushing on the blade button 17, until the conicalblade cutting portion 18 seats on the ground faces 43 on the teeth 22 ofthe back up member. The upper leg of the spring clip 19 is thendepressed by pressing on the rectangular boss 55 thereon, and, with theblade 11 turned to position the flats 53 and 54 on the blade shankparallel to the sides of the narrow slotted portions of the key holeslots 57 and 58, the spring clip 19 is pushed inwardly to seat the boss55 in a rectangular notch 61 provided therefor in the cap plate 30.

This action brings the tapered portion of the blade shank 15 between theflats 53 and 54 thereon into the narrow slotted portions of the key holeslots 57 and 58, thereby retaining the 'blade 11 against rotation; Uponrelease of pressure on the rectangular boss '55, the upper leg of thespring clip 19 is biased upwardly by the resilience of the spring,whereupon the edges of the narrow portion of the uppermost key hole slot57 engage the upper tapered portion of the shank between the flats 53and 54 thereon and urge the blade 11 resiliently upward, thereby biasingthe upper face of the conical blade cutting portion 18 into bearingrelation with the conically ground faces 43 of the teeth 22 of the backup member.

With the parts thus assembled, as shown in FIGS. 1-3, and the thumb of ausers hand inserted in the ring portion of one of the handles, and afinger of the same hand inserted, in the other, the handles 13 and 14are then separated, and the lower or blade end of the razor A is placedon the face of the user in slightly forwardly tilted position relativeto the direction in which it is to be moved to perform a shaving stroke.With the razor bearing lightly against the users face, the handles 13and -14 are then brought slowly together to rotate the back up member12, while the razor is moved simultaneously forwardly across a desiredstroke area of the users face. The

speed of rotation of the back up member 12 preferably is of the order of60 r.p.m., but the user soon learns to operate the handles in a mannerwhich is best for his own preference.

At the completion of each full operative movement of the handles 13 and14, the interrupted portion 27a of the gear segment 27 will registerwith the teeth 24 of the rotary shaft portion 25, thereby releasing thelatter from driven engagement by the handle member 14 and allowing thespiral spring 28, which was placed under slight torsional stress duringthe shaving stroke, to urge the back up member 12 in acounter-rotativedirection and thereby free any whiskers which otherwise might be trappedbetween serrations of the blade edge 44 and the teeth 22 of the back upmember. The razor A is then raised clear of the users face, the handles13 and 14 are separated, and the process is repeated as necessary tocomplete the shaving operation.

When it is desired to remove the blade 11, the rectangular boss on theupper leg of the spring clip 19 is depressed, and the spring clip ispulled outwardly to its limit of movement, which brings the rounded endportions of the key hole slots 57 and 58 in the spring clip 19 intoregister with the blade shank 15. The upwardly extending upper endportion of the blade shank 15 is then pushed downwardly to move theblade cutting portion 18 free of the teeth 22 of the back up member, and

the edge of the blade cutting portion 18 is then lightly grasped betweenthe thumb and forefinger of the users hand and the blade axiallywithdrawn. The blade requires only very infrequent sharpening, becausethe friction of the conical peripheral portion of the blade cuttingportion 18 hearing lightly on the teeth of the back up member 12 exertsa honing action which tends to keep the peripheral slicing edge of theblade sharp.

The invention provides a simple, inexpensive and easily operated,stationary blade, mechanical razor, and one which can be operated in anylocality without dependence upon electrical current. For this reason itmakes an excellent razor for use not only at home, but also for campers,for use in an automobile, and for use by military personnel in thefield.

While I have illustrated and described a preferred embodiment of thepresent invention, it will be understood, however, that various changesand modifications may be made in the details thereof without departingfrom the scope of the invention as set forth in the appended claims.

Having thus described the invention, What I claim as new and desire toprotect by Letters Patent is defined in the following claims:

1. A manually actuated circular blade razor comprising:

a body,

a stationary blade having a finely serrated, circular peripherysharpened to a keen cutting edge,

a blade shank fixedly mounted co-axially of the blade and extending fromone side thereof,

an annular blade back-up member journaled rotatably in the body andhaving a hole axially therethrough, the shank of the blade beinginserted in said hole, an annular row of teeth on the back-up membercoaxially of its axis of rotation, each tooth having a surface formed onthe axially outward side thereof conforming to a marginal portion ofsaid one side of the blade and extending radially beyond the blade edge,the other side of the blade and the portions of the teeth extendingradially beyond the blade being exposed for contact with the skin of aperson during shaving,

means retaining the blade against rotation and simultaneously lightlybiasing the blade and back-up member axially toward each other to bringthe conforming surfaces on the teeth of the back-up member into light,contacting, honing relation with the marginal portion of the blade, and

manually actuated means mounted on the body and operatively engaging theblade back-up member for rotating the back-up member relative to theblade.

2. A manually actuated, circular blade razor comprising:

a body,

a stationary blade having a finely serrated, circular peripherysharpened to a keen cutting edge,

a blade shank fixedly mounted co-axially of the blade and extending fromone side thereof, an annular blade back-up member journaled rotatably inthe body and having a hole axially therethrough, the shank of the bladebeing inserted in said hole,

an annular row of shearing teeth on the back-up member c-o-axially ofits axis of rotation, each tooth having a surface formed on the axiallyoutward side thereof conforming to a marginal portion of said one sideof the blade and extending radially beyond the blade edge,

means retaining the blade against rotation and simultaneously lightlybiasing the blade and back-up member axially toward each other to bringthe conforming surfaces on the teeth of the back-up member into light,contacting, honing relation with the marginal portion of the blade,

a first handle member fixedly mounted on the body and extendinglaterally therefrom,

a second handle member pivotally mounted on the body and extendinglaterally therefrom, and

gearing operatively interconnecting the second handle member and theblade back-up member for rotatively driving the back-up member uponpivotally moving the second handle member alternately toward and awayfrom the fixed handle member.

3. A manually actuated, circular blade razor as claimed in claim 2wherein the gearing interconnecting the pivotally mounted second handlemember comprises a gear segment on the second handle member in mesh witha pinion portion formed co-axially on the blade back-up member.

4. A manually actuated, circular blade razor comprising:

a body,

a stationary blade having a finely serrated, circular peripherysharpened to a keen cutting edge, a blade shank fixedl mountedco-axially of the blade and extending from one side thereof, v

a flat face on a side of the blade shank,

an annular blade back-up member journaled rotatably in the body andhaving a hole axially therethrough, the shank of the blade beinginserted in said hole,

an annular row of endwise directed shearing teeth on the back-up memberco-axially of its axis of rotation, each tooth having a surface formedthereon conforming to a marginal portion of the blade and extendingradially beyond the blade edge,

each tooth having a shearing edge formed on the portion thereofconforming to the blade,

spring means removably mounted on the body and engaging the fiat face onthe blade shank thereby retaining the blade against rotation andsimultaneously lightly biasing the blade and back-up member axiallytoward each other to bring the conforming surfaces on the teeth of theback-up member into light contacting, honing relation with the marginalportion of the blade,

a manually movable member mounted on the body and extending laterallytherefrom, and

means operatively interconnecting the manually movable member and theblade back-up member for rotatively driving the back-up member uponmoving the manually movable member.

5'. A manually actuated, circular blade razor comprising:

a body,

a stationary blade having a finely serrated, circular peripherysharpened to a keen cutting edge,

a blade shank mounted co-axially of the blade,

an annular blade back-up member journaled rotatably in the body andhaving a hole axially therethrough, the shank of the blade beinginserted in the hole,

an annular row of endwise directed shearing teeth on the back-up memberco-axially of its axis of rotation, each tooth having a surface formedthereon conforming to a marginal portion of the blade and extendingradially beyond the blade edge,

each tooth having a shearing edge formed on the portion thereofconforming to the blade,

means lightly biasing the blade and back-up member axially toward eachother to bring the conforming surfaces on the teeth of the back-upmember into light, contacting, honing relation with the marginal portionof the blade,

a manually movable member mounted on the body and extending laterallytherefrom,

means operatively interconnecting the manually movable member and theblade back-up member for rotatively driving the back-up member uponmoving the manually movable member, and

spring means operatively mounted between the body and the blade back-upmember for exerting a slight counter-rotative biasing force between thebody and the back-up member at the completion of each operative movementof the manually movable member for freeing any partially severedWhiskers trapped between serrations of the blade edge and the teeth ofthe back-up member.

6. A manually actuated, circular blade razor as claimed in claim 5,wherein the means for rotatively driving the back-up member comprise apinion mounted co-axially on the back-up member, and a gear segmentmounted on the manually movable handle member, the gear beinginterrupted to release the back-up member at a terminal portion of anactuating movement of the handle member.

7. A manually actuated, circular blade razor as claimed in claim 7wherein the spring means for exerting a counter-rotative force betweenthe body and the back-up member comprises a coil spring mounted with aconvolution at one end thereof fitted in slightly radially compressedrelation into a ciruclar retainer provided therefor co-axially of theback-up member for light, frictional engagement with the retainer, theother end of the spring being anchored to the back-up member.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,014,067 9/1935 Heimers 3043.6 X2,119,683 6/1938 Nevraumont 3043.6 2,247,798 7/ 1941 Bean 30--43.62,611,954 9/1952 Schmitt 30-436 FOREIGN PATENTS 827,830 2/1938 France.

295,729 8/ 1928 Great Britain.

669,152 3/ 1952 Great Britain.

WILLIAM FELDMAN, Primary Examiner.

MYRON C. KRUSE, Examiner.

1. A MANUALLY ACTUATED CIRCULAR BALDE RAZOR COMPRISING: A BODY, ASTATIONARY BLADE HAVING A FINELY SERRATED, CIRCULAR PERIPHERY SHARPENEDTO A KEEN CUTTING EDGE, A BLADE SHANK FIXEDLY MOUNTED CO-AXIALLY OF THEBLADE AND EXTENDING FROM ONE SIDE THEREOF, AN ANNULAR BLADE BACK-UPMEMBER JOURNALED ROTATABLY IN THE BODY AND HAVING A HOLE AXIALLYTHERETHROUGH, THE SHANK OF THE BLADE BEING INSERTED IN SAID HOLE, ANANNULAR ROW OF TEETH ON THE BACK-UP MEMBER COAXIALLY OF ITS AXIS OFROTATION, EACH TOOTH HAVING A SURFACE FORMED ON THE AXIALLY OUTWARD SIDETHEREOF CONFORMING TO A MARGINAL PORTION OF SAID ONE SIDE OF THE BLADEAND EXTENDING RADIALLY BEYOND THE BALDE EDGE, THE OTHER SIDE OF THEBLADE AND THE PORTIONS OF THE TEETH EXTENDING RADIALLY BEYOND THE BLADEBEING EXPOSED FOR CONTACT WITH THE SKIN OF A PERSON DURING SHAVING,MEANS RETAINING THE BLADE AGAINST ROTATION AND SIMULTANEOUSLY LIGHTLYBIASING THE BLADE AND BACK-UP MEMBER AXIALLY TOWARD EACH OTHER TO BRINGTHE CONFORMING SURFACES ON THE TEETH OF THE BACK-UP MEMBER INTO LIGHT,CONTACTING, HONING RELATION WITH THE MARGINAL PORTION OF THE BLADE, ANDMANUALLY ACTUATED MEANS MOUNTED ON THE BODY AND OPERATIVELY ENGAGING THEBLADE BACK-UP MEMBER FOR ROTATING THE BACK-UP MEMBER RELATIVE TO THEBLADE.